Mr. Mayor, Pull Yourself Up - Get On It

This is posted Sat 12/15/07 9:21 a.m.

Foghorn said...

Note to the mayor:Gloria CAN NOT STAY. It is that simple. She is about to cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Funk - While I applaud your loyalty, your statement "she will be there as long as I am" leaves us little choice. I smell a recall.

1-The debate so far has been about race, not about competency. The #1 problem - GLORIA - This is about Gloria. How much of the debate revolved around Gloria? It's obvious. She's a liability and needs to be controlled.

2-If you can't manage your own wife, how in the world can you manage this mess at city hall?

3-If Gloria gave a diddly about you, you wouldn't be able to drag her into city hall. If I was causing 1% of this grief to my spouse in ANY undertaking, I would back away. Gloria's insistence on staying around is NOT LOVE, it's control. There's another word for it, but I won't go there.

4-I'm not an attorney, but it would seem to me that NOT being a city employee, Gloria is PERSONALLY responsible for her actions. Now, that doesn't absolve the city and our deep pockets in that the city has ALLOWED the hostile work place to exist and continue, so our tax dollars will pay, BUT I don't see where city dollars can be used to defend GLORIA from personal liability or to protect her personal assets. If a city employee gets sued, their assets are generally protected, but I don't see that with Gloria. So, is it worth your house and savings?

To all -

What are we to do? Thursday will go down as one of the city's darkest days. I don't see a win here. Whatever happens will be about race, not performance. I saw little, if any, discussion on competency, leadership, or ethics. There were attacks on the mayor's wife for which he bears responsibility, but beyond that, not a lot of discussion about the real issues.

I think the mayor tried to take "the high road" but didn't do a very good job of executing it. He tried to go on record as saying he and the city manager "had different visions" and let Cauthen move on to work "his magic" somewhere else. Cauthen decided to play the race card and make a stink (personally I think he saw this coming and has been laying some groundwork to strengthen that card's value - the timing of the complaint against Gloria was awful convenient)so now the mayor needs to get honest with the people.

As sad as it is, Funk is still our only hope here (I don't see Blunt stepping in), but first he's got to lose Gloria from his staff. That's what kitchen counters are for. After losing Gloria, he's GOT to lay out all the issues. He HAS to lay out to the council and the people HIS REASONS for not renewing WC's contract.

The incompetency. Funk knows budgets and finance.

Point out the flaws in the direction we've taken. ANYBODY can rebuild downtown with borrowed money we can't repay. I could drive a Ferrari if I didn't have to make the payments! Point out the hundred's of thousands of dollars in waste and favors. Point out the deficit and budget shortfalls and draw the line back to WC. Point out the ethical issues. The documented and reported travel expenses are just part of the story. There are more and in the time he's been in the Hall, he should know where to look or just look here and we'll tell him. Point out the unlawful and unethical contracts and outright awards. If WC wants to make it a race thing, then go there. Equality is one thing, even a degree of MBE advantage, but MBE exclusivity is another. I am amazed at the number of MBE's we deal with that have NO OTHER CUSTOMERS. They cannot or will not compete in the marketplace! If WC wants it to be a referendum on racial preference, so be it.

Go to the HR issues. WC is the CEO here. He is ultimately responsible for it ALL. Go to LT's pornography and WC's refusal to deal with her. We're going to have to pay backpay and reinstate all other employees who have been fired for the same thing. Discuss the widespread hostilities throughout the city from upper management down, including the City Manager's Office. The voters would be shocked to hear the things that are going on under WC's nose and with his implied approval. It shouldn't be hard to find examples of the horrible morale of the employees and city wide fear employees have of management. The entire city is a hostile workplace and efforts to prevent it are nonexistent.

Let's look at the whole copier thing. That got a lot of traction with the public and there are more stories just like it. The early termination of 4 directors (3 white, 1 black) to be replaced with 3 black and 1 white (if memory serves me right). Look at the competency of the people WC has personally selected. The best people available for any job are always minorities from Denver? How is that? Any leader can be judged by those he chooses to assist him.

Funk, MAKE YOUR CASE! The case is there for somebody to pick up. Either YOU do it or pack your bags.

My prediction - Funk can't stand up to Gloria, he can't take the heat of city hall. I see a resignation. I'm not and haven't been a big Funk supporter, but nobody wins from a mid-term special election, especially one that will be 100% race based. I was just looking for a new job. If he doesn't get this mess right, I'll be looking for a new home town.December 15, 2007 9:21 AM.